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Board hears state legislative updates on school-counselor funding, cyber charter moratorium and unfunded-mandate proposal
Summary
Board members were briefed on three proposed state bills at the June 25 meeting: one on access to school counselors and related student-support staff, a proposed moratorium on new cyber charter schools, and a proposal to bar unfunded mandates.
York City SD — At the June 25 meeting the board received a legislative report summarizing three state bills affecting schools.
The first bill, House Bill 192 (sponsored in the presenter—s account by Representatives Manuel Guzman and Dan Miller), would require districts to evaluate needs and ensure an appropriate complement of school counselors, psychologists, social workers and nurses based on school population. The presenter noted the bill "does not mention increased funding" in the material discussed and emphasized that it requires districts to evaluate staffing needs and manage caseloads.
The second measure, Senate Bill 27 (as described by the presenter), would place a moratorium on authorizing new privately run, publicly funded cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania. The presenter said proponents contend Pennsylvania already has substantial cyber capacity (14 cyber charter schools reported in the summary) and that tuition for cyber charters has been a major driver of local tuition payments and property tax pressures.
A third measure discussed was Senate Bill 499, described as a proposal to amend the state constitution to prohibit unfunded mandates: under the described language, any mandate passed by legislation or executive action would have to be fully funded before implementation.
Board members asked whether the counselor-access bill included funding; the presenter said the bill language as presented did not specify new funding. Members also asked whether the cyber-charter moratorium would include emerging virtual or AI-driven providers; the presenter said the bill language appeared to cover virtual options broadly. The report was informational; no board action was taken.
